Bret Easton Ellis: I Knew About Bryan Singer's Underage Parties

Monday

Apr 28, 2014 at 12:01 AMApr 28, 2014 at 9:22 PM

American PsychoandLess Than ZeroauthorBret Easton Ellishas never been shy about what's on his mind, and on theMondayedition of his podcast he had some damning words about theBryan Singersexual abuse scandal.Ellis claims that he's known for years about Singer's parties involving ...

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American Psycho and Less Than Zero author Bret Easton Ellis has never been shy about what's on his mind, and on the Monday edition of his podcast he had some damning words about the Bryan Singer sexual abuse scandal.

Ellis claims that he's known for years about Singer's parties involving underage boys and that he's dated men who both attended and participated in the alleged events that are being investigated. Ellis recalled being invited to one of the parties in December of 2007:

"[Ellis' friends] said, 'We're going over to one of Bryan's underage parties in Encino at the M & C Estate,' or whatever it was called," Ellis said on his podcast. "And I said 'Really, those are going on?' And they said 'Oh yeah, yeah. You should just see it as a goof.' ... I just didn't really feel comfortable. I had been drinking, and didn't want to drive and whatever."

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Also on the podcast, which features True Blood's Alan Ball, Ellis talked about one of the men he dated who casually talked about Singer's parties.

"There was another guy that I dated who was in his late 20s and he said he had been one of those guys who had been invited to those parties for about two or three months," Ellis said. "And he's a sensitive guy and he wasn't at all into the drugs but he was kind of into the parties and the sex and the attention. And could easily understand--I guess he was 17? I don't know how old he was--what was expected of him."

Singer, 48, is currently being accused of raping then-17-year-old Michael Egan in 1999. Egan is seeking to charge Singer with battery assault and infliction of emotional distress. Singer has denied the allegations.

Ellis also implied that this is not surprising given Hollywood's history.

"There is the notion that Hollywood by its very nature kind of encourages this behavior in a way, or lets it-the idea that young people want to come out here and want to be stars and want attention. Well, what kind of doors does that open? And what does that kind of allow? We've heard horror stories about pedophilia in the industry for decades."

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Ellis did not weigh in on the rape allegations against Singer, but hinted that it was suspicious and that "it seems calculated" that the story is coming to light just before the release of Singer's big-budget film X-Men: Days of Future Past.